The Wolf of The Woods

Chapter Five: Making Friends

A/N: The adorable werewolf Dan drawing for this chapter was done by Lelo_447 :)
-

Dan got to his feet, unnoticed by the others who were distracted by Phil. He didn't know what to do. Frozen, he stood and stared as Seamus interrogated Phil.

'What are you doing here, you backstabbing little weed?'
'Preventing you from murdering him!' Phil snapped, surprising Dan when he turned and gestured to him.

'I was only showing Dan here that he should learn to pick his fights a little better' Seamus snarled in reply. Phil circled around the room, walking slowly towards Dan.

'Maybe it's you who should learn to pick a fight Seamus' said Dan, who felt a strange boost of confidence with Phil now stood beside him.

He regretted this immediately However . Seamus went for him again, letting out a remarkably loud growl as he pushed Dan into one of the toilet cubicles.

Phil, who had instantly sprinted for Dan was restrained by Harvey and Jack. The two then remorselessly shoved him in too and the cubicle door slammed shut. Dan and Phil heard a snapping loud noise coming from outside after that and the next thing they knew the door had been jammed shut from the outside.

'You cowards!' Phil cried.
'You didn't even try and fight us!' Dan shouted.
'Didn't need to' One of them grunted. Although Dan couldn't see them he could tell that all three of them would have a look of tormentful glee on their faces.

'Try and get out of that one losers' said another grunt from outside as stomping footsteps sounded and began too grow quieter. Dan waited until they had gone completely and then turned to Phil.

'Well then, what now?' He said, sounding thoroughly disheartened. Phil looked up. Above them was a tiny rectangular window where light was coming through. Dan looked up at it too.

'I think' Phil exclaimed 'that this might be the only way'

He clambered on top of the toilet and grabbed hold of the window, opening it with slight difficulty.

'I'll go first, once I'm up I'll check the coast is clear and wait for you okay?'
'Um, okay' Dan replied, gazing up doubtfully into Phil's blazing blue eyes. Phil then clambered through the open window in a way that seemed almost effortless and called up to Dan.
'Okay, now your turn'

Dan stepped up uneasily onto the window ledge and looked out at Phil, he couldn't possible get through there... 'Phil, I don't think I can. Ahhhh!'

His footing slipped and Dan fell out of the window, landing rather painfully on top of Phil.

'Ouch' Phil groaned, but then he started giggling. Dan joined in and soon the two on them were lying on the floor in hysterics, completely forgetting the fact that they'd barely even met and acting as though they'd been friends all their lives.

Eventually they stopped and looked up at each other. Phil let out a gasp.
'Dan your face!'
'What?'
'There's blood dripping all down you! And your eye, I think you have a black eye!'

Dan said nothing. He had forgotten, until now, about what had happened to him and as it all came flooding back to him so did the pain.

'You need help! I, I, I'll... take you to the school nurse... No we're not going back in there, we could uh...'

'Phil, it's okay I'll just walk home, I'll be fine'
'No, I can walk you home'
'Phil we barely know each other and you've already been dragged into this mess and...'

'Exactly I'm already part of it so I might as well continue to be'
'Phil I'm not letting you...'
'You're coming with me' Phil smirked, pulling Dan up of the floor as well as himself and beginning to walk still clinging onto Dan.
'Now where do you live?'

Dan felt a jolt in his body like his heart was trying to jump out of it. Phil couldn't come to his house! It wasn't even a house, it was a tree for crying out loud! What would Phil think of Dan when he saw that he lived in a tree?

'It's um, this way' Dan's half focused brain blurted out.
'Really through the forest?'
'uh, yeah'

Could he just stop outside someone else's house and pretend it was his until Phil left? No. Phil, though they barely knew each other, was the closest thing he'd ever had to a friend and he couldn't lie to his friend.

'Won't your mum be worried about where you've gone?' Dan was trying to think of something that might convince Phil to go home.
'No, she doesn't really care about me... anyway won't your mum be worried? I mean look at you, you're covered in blood and bruises!'

'Well um... let's just say that my mum doesn't really care about me either... nor does my dad for the matter'
'Oh' Phil couldn't think of what to say to that. 'I'm sorry'

-

They were well into the forest by now, all signs of civilisation were gone and all that could be heard was the rustling and snapping of twigs and branches. Dan could see it now in the distance, his home. He paused and tried one more hopeless shot at getting Phil to turn around.

'Listen, I think I can find my own way back from here, I'll be fine and everything don't worry but...'

'Dan' Phil stopped, looking him directly in the eyes. 'I've come this far, don't think I'm turning around now'
Dan sighed and swiftly carried on walking until they reached the treehouse.

Phil looked up as he saw it and then at Dan as he saw him stopping at the bottom of it.
'I live... here' Dan muttered, his head drooping slightly as he accepted his defeat 'And the reason my parents don't care about me, is because they abandoned me'

'You, you live here?'

Dan nodded. Why had that been so easy for him to say? He'd never told anyone about his parents before and yet he'd just done so almost without hesitation.

Phil stood completely still for a moment and then looked back at Dan. Dan almost thought he could see tears in Phil's eyes but then Phil turned and began to climb the ladder.

Once they reached the top Phil looked around the house with deep curiosity.
'Can I sit down?' He said, smiling as though determined not to make out that he thought this was a little strange.
'Yeah of course, I've never actually had a guest here before'

Phil took a seat on Dan's rickety old bed and looked around the room, Dan followed suit and sat beside him.

'Listen, thanks for helping me, I didn't get a chance to say it before but if you hadn't been there then I might still be lying on the floor in the boy's bathroom'
'It's okay' Phil replied, still smiling. 'I'm glad I did or I never we never would have become friends'

'Friends?'
'Of course! What did you think we were?'
'I don't know' Dan giggled 'I'm sorry, it's just I've never had a friend before'